The moment of truth for Shaik

2005-06-02 22:49

Dries Liebenberg

Durban - For half an hour on Thursday, the steps to the cells beneath the High Court almost beckoned Schabir Shaik after he was found guilty by Judge Hilary Squires on charges of corruption and fraud.

Officially, Shaik's bail lapsed with his conviction, but the prosecution and defence had agreed beforehand on new bail conditions until such time as Squires had passed sentence.

Shaik's defence team brought a bank-guaranteed cheque of R100 000 to court to pay his new bail.

But, in those 30 minutes, while the legal representatives met Judge Squires in chambers to finalise arrangements and pay the bail, Shaik probably felt the stairs were waiting.

The minute hand of the big clock on the wall in A court slowly ticked off minute after minute while the wheels of bureaucracy slowly went into motion.

Watched the minutes tick by...

"They want to take my client down to the cells, but we would rather wait here," said Shaik's advocate, Francois van Zyl SC, to advocate Anton Steynberg, one of the public prosecutors.

An hour earlier, Judge Squires' assessors and journalists also watched the wall clock, wondering if there was to be no adjournment for tea.

However, the 72-year-old judge - who was recalled from retirement to hear Shaik's case - slowly, but surely, worked through his judgment of 164 pages to the end.

By 12:30, without any further ceremony, he suddenly said the final words: "Guilty on all three counts."

Mo Shaik, counsellor to the minister of external affairs, put his arm around his businessman brother and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

Apart from the conviction, which has cast a shadow over Shaik, it later emerged that the State also was considering attaching assets as yield from criminal activities.

While the Shaik brothers waited for the bail proceedings to be concluded, Mo stood to one side, arms folded across his chest.

Shaik's attorney brother, Yunus, sat with a bowed head and another brother, former weapons buyer Chippy, walked up and down.

Van Zyl and his client had a whispered conversation.

An arm's-length from Shaik sat his wife, Zuleikha.

The couple barely said a word to each other.

Met the journalists

The relief was palpable when a court orderly and one of the investigating officers eventually entered court A with the bail receipt.

Mo said: "Let's go and eat! Where shall we go? Café? Fish?"

An hour-and-a-half later - after lunch and the resumption of the normal court proceedings for the passing of sentence - Shaik met the large contingent of journalists on the High Court steps.

While Mo introduced him to the media, Shaik's eyes sought a distant horizon.

"I walk in the light of my Lord.

"I'm not guilty and I will believe it until the day that I meet my Creator," Schabir said to the gathering.

- Beeld